Bathing suit or wrestling uniform?

Another summer has come and once again Madeleine's bathing suit is too small. A year ago I crammed her into a super cute ladybug outfit. I barely kept it on her one hour because her chub was being pinched by the elastic. Today I tested the flamingo suit only to discover it didn't quite fit as I expected. Here she is "playing" in the backyard.

All geared up for the wrestling tournament.

Mentally preparing for the big match.

I'll show you who's boss Mr. Sprinkler!

Challenging a call made by the ref.

Dejected after suffering a humiliating loss.

Back on the sidelines with her coach.

Cheering on a fellow teammate (Momma vs. a bee)

Daddy's diva

Justin had fun doing Madeleine's hair the other evening after her bath. Dad's can get away with anything!

Well child--children--checkups

Madeleine had her 15th month appointment yesterday. Here's the breakdown:

Height: 32.5" (97%)
Weight: 23.4lbs. (50%)
Head circ.: 47cm (75%)

She continues her trend of being quite the string bean. Fortunately, although she's technically underweight for her height, she's maintained the same growth curve since she was born so the pediatrician isn't concerned. She also got two shots: one for chicken pox and one for tetanus. This means we're shot free for her 18th month appointment! Hooray, especially considering Junior could possibly be around by then if he comes early. Yikes!

Junior and I also had an appointment today. Things continue to look really good. I've decided that if we get pregnant again I will only agree to doing so if I'm not pregnant during the dark days of winter here in Montana. I am far healthier this time around and my weight gain to date is half of what it was last time. When pregnant with Madeleine, I overindulged all of the time, mostly to appease my raging hormones. I feel much more even keel this time around even with so many life events up in the air.

We continue to wait to hear news about the job situation. Once that happens we can make decisions about where to live. Justin is trying to distract himself during this waiting period by going fishing and camping. I hope it helps him. I feel very much at peace with everything and know that whatever happens will be in the best interest of all parties (but you can still pray that we stay here in Missoula if you want!).

Time for change

I'd had it with my long hair. I realized it would take me another year to get it as long as I wanted and all of my patience went out the window. So here's the final result.

Before: As you have probably noticed, most of the time I've been "styling" my hair in the messy bun fashion on top of my head...not exactly the classiest look.

After: Shorter and sassy. I'm thrilled with it :)

Videos from camping

Camping with the Clines

We returned yesterday from our first camping excursion of the year. We felt brave enough Tuesday to take Madeleine (and Maggie) up Rock Creek for a night in the great outdoors. We found a great campsite with lots of signs of moose and far enough from the "creek" (more like a raging torrent currently) to be safe.

Overall, it was a great time. We took two tents: one for Justin and Maggie and one for Madeleine and me. While next time I think we'll put Madeleine in a tent by herself, it was a fairly successful experiment. She went to bed really easily and only woke up in the middle of the night when I was trying to zipper her sleeping bag up. Then she realized how cool I am and wanted to play. She quickly changed her mind about my coolness when she banged herself in the head with the flashlight. Justin wasn't too far away but didn't hear the slight distress in our tent. Madeleine and I did spend about an hour and a half awake together with me trying to help her relax enough to fall back asleep. But every time my hand stopped stroking her head or rubbing her back, her head would pop up off the mat and we'd start the process all over with me barely staying awake.

I was really glad to see sun on the tent in the morning because that meant we had both fallen back asleep for at least half of the night. It got quite chilly during the night, hence my anxiety about keeping her warm and the subsequent "play time" we had and I ended up using an extra fleece blanket to keep me warm enough. We had hoped to go for a hike before leaving but Madeleine was extra sleepy after the interrupted night and we decided it would be best not to test the situation. She slept on the way home and later took a 3 hour nap. We learned a few lessons about what to do differently and look forward to implementing those maybe next week!

(This is the fairyslipper flower I found by the creek...a wonderful find!)

The youngest ultrahiker

Madeleine loves to walk...so much so that she vehemently protests when we put her in the backpack to go hiking. Today we decided to let her walk for the first part of the trail. Half a mile later she was still going strong and uninterested in being carried. We paused creekside to distract her and cool off her hot feet then proceeded to torture her by strapping her into the backpack. Last week she walked our cemetery dog-walk without being carried and that's over 1 mile!

We enjoy watching her explore the world one stick, rock, and flower at a time; however, when it's over 80 degrees outside and we're poking along in the sun, at times mom and dad have to take charge again. She got to see her first snake today and some new flowers but I won't bore you with those pictures. Instead, here is the trooper who looks like she may take after her Grampi some day and do some ultra-races!